Karai
Oroku Karai (born Hamato Miwa) is an antagonist-turned-protagonist in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She was originally the biological daughter of Splinter. Now, she is a 16-year-old master Konoichi and the love interest of Leonardo, adopted into The Foot Clan by Shredder as his daughter until her discovery of her true heritage in The Hamato Clan and the Ninja Turtles. She made her debut in the episode New Girl In Town.'' ''She was mutated into a serpent in ''Vengeance is Mine''. Official Description "I am Karai, daughter of Shredder and loyal member of the Foot Clan. For my entire life I was taught to hate Splinter, the turtle's mentor and the being responsible for my mother's death...or so I thought. Now things are not what they seem and I cannot tell from friend or foe. Well, so much has changed since I found out that Shredder deceived me and took me from Splinter, my real father. Shredder kidnapped me, but I was saved by the turtles and taken home. Being reunited with my real family wasn't enough-I have to have my revenge...deadly revenge. Now things will never be the same." '' '- Karai''' History Born in 1996 to Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen, Hamato Miwa and her family once lived in complete harmony until Yoshi's adoptive brother Oroku Saki made an attack on their home in the middle of the night and sought to battle Yoshi to the death. Some flaming candles were struck with a clawed-weapon and the fight caused a fire to break out, killing Tang Shen in the process. Yoshi had thought Miwa had died in the fire as well, but unbeknownst to him, for revenge purposes, Saki had kidnapped her, feeling he should take something from his former friend since he''took'' something from him; the love of Tang Shen. Since then, Saki, renamed in his birth clan as the Shredder, had renamed her Karai, raised her as his very own daughter, trained her in the ways of Ninjutsu, and fed her tons of lies about what happened to Tang Shen. Presumably, one of these lies was that he and Tang Shen were the ones together and that it was Splinter who caused the immense fire. However, as the love interest of Leonardo, she discovered her heritage in the Hamato Clan and got mutated into a serpent while facing Shredder alone. Appearance As a human: Karai is Donatello's height (approximately) and is quite slender. She has short, dark black hair with a large portion of it dyed blond in the back. She wears bright red eyeliner over the tips of her eyebrows, and often wears a distinctive black and silver armored ninja outfit. When she chose not to wear her ordinary outfit, however, she instead wore a brown biker jacket with metal studs all over it. She also wore blue jeans. As a mutant: She is a two armed white and violet serpent with green eyes, snake heads that replace her hands, and armor that has become infused with her skin. Personality Unlike her previous incarnations, Karai is portrayed as a rebellious teenager. She always seems to enjoy having the freedom to make her own mistakes and cause trouble. Karai can be serious when needed to be and occasionally desires to know what is going on in her surroundings before making a move that she herself or her former clan could later regret. This can be noted numerous times, such as when she encountered the Kraang and decided to work briefly alongside the Turtles to slay several of the robots. She has now discovered the truth about her real family and she has apparently "changed sides".'' '' Karai also seems to have a soft spot for people that have lost their mother, as seen in "Karai's Vendetta", where she hesitated to harm April when the latter leaked that she lost her own mother. Even when she believed Shredder was her father, she rarely wanted to harm anyone; she was simply Shredder's puppet, but she had no clue. Karai/Miwa seems to be strong, rebellious and fearless, but she is actually quite kind and compassionate. After being turned into a mutant snake, Karai becomes feral and predatory, but retains enough of her personality to briefly recognize Splinter and not only call him "Father", but at Season 2's end, save him from drowning after he is thrown down the sewer by the Shredder. As a sign of their connection, she also managed to fight her instincts enough to not only recognize and call Leo by his name, but also beg him to help her. Despite this, Karai also feels that she is becoming dangerous and wants to stay away from the turtles. Abilities, Skills, Powers and Weaponry Ninjutsu: Her skills as a Kunoichi are very formidable, as she is easily able to take on Leonardo one-on-one or all four of the turtles at once, which can be seen in Enemy of My Enemy. Her primary weapon of choice was a Tanto, which is a short and sharp Japanese blade. Acrobatics: Though she being human shown some strength against her enemies. Having great acrobatics to compare to athlete person. Venom Spit: She also have the power to spit blinding venom whenever she is angered. She can also use her tongue in a pitch fork like action. Retractable Teeth: It's also shown that her sharp teeth are retractable. Enhanced Strength: '''She has incredibly fast reflexes, an amazingly strong tail that can be used for whipping, constricting or a able to smothering. '''Aquatic Breathing: '''Like most snakes she can breathe underwater for long period of time as she was traveling to another location from the West Side of New York. '''Weaponry: '''Her weaponry is notably sharp teeth and long tail. '''Metamorphosis: She is also shown to be able to morph between her human and mutant form but in even as a "human", a few of her snake features can still be noticed. Intelligence and Communication: She shown to have her intelligence as human but looses a bit of it from becoming more of a snake. She can still hiss while talking, but that has some difficulties. Interactions With Other Characters Karai (Character Interactions) Episodes Appeared In *New Girl In Town (debut) *The Alien Agenda *Enemy Of My Enemy *Karai's Vendetta *Showdown *The Mutation Situation (cameo, non-speaking) *Follow The Leader *Mikey Gets Shellacne *Target: April O'Neil * The Good, The Bad, And Casey Jones (mentioned) *Wormquake! * The Wrath of Tiger Claw * The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto (cameo, non-speaking) * Vengeance is Mine (mutates in this episode) * A Chinatown Ghost Story (mentioned) * The Invasion (cameo, non-speaking) * Return to New York (as a picture) *Serpent Hunt * The Pig and the Rhino * Casey Jones vs The Underworld (cameo, non-speaking) * The Noxious Avenger (cameo, non-speaking) * Clash of the Mutanimals (cameo, non-speaking) Gallery See Karai/Gallery Quotes *''(to Leo) "You're adorable. Stupid but adorable."'' *''"This is fun." *"I like your brother, Leo -- he's almost as entertaining as you."'' *''Karai: "What happens when I do this?" Raph: "NO!" Leo: "Don't do that!" Kraang: "A highly undesirable outcome." Karai: "Well now I've gotta."'' *''Leo: "I trusted you!" Karai: "I know! That's messed up, right?!?"'' *''Raph: "She's bad news!" Leo: "No she's not!" Karai: "Yeah. I am."'' *''(After being told that the Kraang are quite dangerous) "I like 'em already."'' *''"Booyakasha?? What does that even mean?"'' *''(referring to the Shredder) "He drives me crazy, because he's my father!"'' *''(wanting to know facts about the Kraang invasion) "Aw come on, let me in on the fun!"'' *''"Not bad."'' *''"Sayonara."'' *''"I trusted you, Leo - I thought you were my friend! I thought you were better than this! How could you betray me? You're just as short-sided and obsessed as Shredder!"'' *''"You really know how to make a girl feel welcome."'' *''(to April directly) "A Tessen...Beautiful, unassuming, but surprisingly powerful...In the right hands."'' *''"So this April O'Neil is at the center of everything?"'' *''"My name's Harmony."'' *''"Guess I struck a nerve?"'' *''"This should be entertaining."'' *''"I understand...father."'' *''(referring to the Kraang) "They don't talk much outside their little houses."'' *''(to April) "What makes you so special? You are the center of an alien conspiracy, protected by Mutants, and currently being trained by a great ninja master. Why?"'' *''Karai: "That's all he talks about; Revenge, revenge, revenge. Vendetta. Vendetta" Leo: "SO - I take it you don't approve?" Karai: "No, I'm fine with it, I'm just saying - he needs a hobby."'' *''(to April) "Hey there, princess. Miss me?"'' *''"I believe you Leonardo, I believe that Splinter is my true father"'' * "Father....What have I done??" * "Tell me the truth! Splinter is my father! Isn't he?! (Long Silence) Shredder: "Yes, Hamato Yoshi is your true father." *''(To Fishface) "Well if it isn't the sushi I ordered."'' *''"This isn't over, Tiger Claw!"'' * (About the Shellraiser) "Is this all this thing's got? Balls of trash?" * (While watching the turtles train) "Is this how training always goes?" *''"Father?"'' * "Leo..........Help me Pleasssssse!" * "No Too Dangerous" * "Comet.........Comet!" Trivia * The name "Karai" is the same name as the Japanese adjective karai that generally translates into "spicy" (for describing foods), but also covers less common meanings like "severe" or "harsh". It also resembles words like kurai meaning "dark", and kerai, a word for retainers who serve under a lord or clan. *Like Shredder she was raised a lie, and raised with the enemy. *She has a torn picture of her Mother that she stares at frequently, implying that she has a deep longing to be with her Mother. *Her mutant form looks like another TMNT character called Scale Tail. Category:Characters Category:Female Category:Female Mutants Category:Good Guys Category:Good Girls Category:Swordswomen Category:Mutants Category:Mutant Reptiles Category:Family to the turtles Category:Humans/Mutants Category:Daughters Category:Kunouichi Category:Kraang's enemies Category:Good Mutants Category:Former Villians Category:Turtles friends Category:May return Category:Ninjas Category:Former Humans